Dawn of the Third age/IC Logs/Session 30

Lob: The Circle eventually awakens, to find the same dark landscape as before, occassionally punctuated with a flash of lightning arcing from far off machinery and the smell and hiss of gas.

Lob: and smoke, burning their throats

Lob: Brazen's inner glow also lights up the surrounding area for a few yards around him

Lob: And, within a few yards of the sleeping Circle, someone sits at a fire, as if they had been waiting for them to wake up

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe looks a little as if essence spiders have gone into a frenzy on him. Transparent veils of finest fabric have sprung up around him like spider webs creating a vaguely tent-like structure that keeps out smoke and the light rain of ash.

~Anshu: Pro simply stands and begins to brush himself off. "

~Anshu: "Who are you?" he asks the stranger, as soon as he notices them. "How did you find us?"

Bright_Snow: wakes fitfully, her eyes opening and her initial thrashing about probably wakens Nomoe. Especially since her head still rests against him.

Bright_Snow: A moment latter she calms when she remembers the gas mask, visiblty showing relief.

Lob: The figure took off a filthy hood, revealing a rather familiar face...a female with a mocking, cynical smile framed by black greasy hair pulled into a ponytail

Lob: "How could someone NOT find you?" She asked.

Nomoe_Hideaki: With his back to the fire Nomoe apparently hasn't noticed the arrival. As Bright Snow begins to wake he too snaps out of his ... well, there're few who would not believe him if he said he'd been meditating, whatever the truth may be.

Bright_Snow: "Damnable mask." She growls with a hint of irritation, her soot stained form contrasting both her pale white skin and Nomoe. Realising quite where she has her head, she quickly rises restraining the urge to flinch, before examining the newcomer.

Nomoe_Hideaki: The web-like structures around him sublimate away into their component essences. */Good morning, Bright Snow/*

@Lob: "Everyone within hundreds of miles saw it."

@Lob: "When you killed the dragon. Besides," She pointed at Brazen. "Your pet freak over there is like a lighthouse, in as dark a place as the Reaches."

Nomoe_Hideaki: Hearing Prototype address someone not of their group - and even worse someone answering from just a few meters away behind him alarm flashes through the bond, quickly suppressed. Not that anyone could have harmed them, even if they did completely pass by his perception, but it still pains him to have missed the newcomer. Outwardly though he shows no surprise.

Bright_Snow: */Good Morning Nomoe/ She returns along the bond warmly if distractedly./* Her head tilts as she examins the newcomer, her eyes drawn to the creatures shadow. Her eyes for once not under her control, flitter through a variety of colours some not of this world, some not of any, before settling on a crimson which matches the unease now creeping through the bond.

~Pro: "I'll admit, what we did must have looked spectacular. I meant, how did you find us in this part of the Reaches?"

Bright_Snow: "A Pot calling the Kettle Black." Snow mutters quietly. */Another Infernal, one likely dedicated to the Ebon Dragon, watch her shadow./*

Nomoe_Hideaki: */A fine watch I make .../ chagrin /She must have preternatural means of stealth./*

Bright_Snow: otherwise does not react to the newcomers arrival, her red irises hidden beneath a mask of soot and grim.

@Lob: She grinned even wider, and lifted a stained hand. "No, he's quite different, actually. He's turned his back on the true heirs of Creation...in any case, it is nice that we meet...as non-enemies for once, isn't it?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "I believe it is polite to introduce oneself when approaching," Nomoe says evenly, still not having turned around.

@Lob: "We always seem to meet so badly, you remember don't you? Or perhaps Nomoe-San does...I'm sure Brazen does."

@Lob: "The Immaculates in the Lap...the Empress? Oh, she's been terrified since your Noldarr almost did her in. Of course, we got him back...we repay, after all."

@Lob: She tilted her head and shook her head with disappointment that they didn't seem to remember her.

@Lob: "Oh well, none of that matters. What does is that for this moment, our goals are the same."

Nomoe_Hideaki: *a mental sigh, regret that the 'morning' is being ruined /It seems we might have to get up after all ... perhaps some morning training is required./* Slowly and apparently entirely unconcerned Nomoe stands up and stretches.

Bright_Snow: "To be heirs they would have to be inheriting. They are not, I believe your broken masters are rather debtors, clamouring for once they once had and can no longer afford."

Bright_Snow: */Snap the bitches neck. It is the only solution for a servent of the Dragon, they can only be up to mischief here, and I think it apt we get revenge for Noldarr, if anything this creature has said can be trusted./ Rage simmered but obviously not shown/*

@Lob: Brazen exploded at her insult after trying to keep it in.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Finally he turns around. "I'm so sorry, I don't make a habit of memorizing names and faces of dead people."

@Lob: "YOU DID WHAT TO NOLDARR?!" He shrieked in rage, energy beginning to coruscate around his claws.

@Lob: She shook her head. "Oh, I didn't do it, not personally. It was someone else...No, I did Viridian Inkwell."

@Lob: She chuckled sadistically. "Did that near-autistic fool really think that he could play the Reclamation like that?"

@Lob: "Trying so hard to try to 'redeem' the Principle of Hierarchy...she ordered his death herself."

Nomoe_Hideaki: *belated recognition, remembrance of a grudge and rising anger /Her! Oh, I owe her more than just a broken neck .../*

Nomoe_Hideaki: sighs. "Save for the simple-minded one you'll not succeed. But it's so good of you to visit. It's quite rare for one condemned to willingly put their head under the executioner's axe."

@Lob: She cleared her throat and coughed up a soulsteel chain, no larger then a child's bracelet.

@Lob: "Ah yes, about that..."

@Lob: "I figured you'd want to address some of your misgivings with me...so in the name of continued peace, my liege has gifted me with this. Have you ever heard of Spell-Capturing Cords?"

@Lob: She fiddled with the chain in her hand, wrapping it around her fingers and unwrapping it idly.

Nomoe_Hideaki: looks to Prototype. "You won't object, I assume?" He nods toward the Fiend, his implication clear.

@Lob: "You'd have to get there before me..." Brazen growled

Nomoe_Hideaki: */It's a shame we don't have as much time as I'd like ... a quick death will have to do for her./*

@Lob: She sighed again. "Once again, you won't listen. I'll make it clearer for the less intelligent of you. If you kill me, then this Soulsteel chain will go off and let loose a massive Void Circle Spell...maybe it'll even kill Autocthon?"

@Lob: "Far from ideal, of course...but the Ebon Dragon finds the idea of killing the traitor to be amusing if there's no other way."

@Lob: Brazen roared in frustration and blasted a distant leaning rusted skyscraper off it's supports, sending it crashing to the ground from miles away.

@Lob: "Now then, we are all going to sit down here, and destroy Magog."

@Lob: "Or at least figure out a way to."

@Lob: She said, somewhat more seriously.

Nomoe_Hideaki: */She believes what she says. And that is in fact a storage device of some sort. Unpleasant./*

@Lob: "We don't need her help!" Brazen snarled

Nomoe_Hideaki: */Can you see Magog from here? It sent that missile, so we should be able to send that spell towards it .../ cool calculations, assessing acceptable collateral damage*

@Lob: The Fiend waved her hand, and her palm flowed like a mouth made out of mud, swallowing the chain back inside her.

@Lob: "This is getting tiresome, now if you want my help, then say so. Otherwise I'll just leave and go back to the city and try to take it apart myself. if you do manage to destroy it, then my masters will be happy and I'll take the credit."

@Lob: She said with a sigh and a shrug.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Why should we believe any of this?" Nomoe inquires, affecting amusement.

@Lob: She raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I'm stupid? I've been seeding propaganda under your precious Deliberative's nose for years, do you think I'd be able to do that if I didn't know that you Usurpers can tell truths from lies?"

@Lob: "You already know I'm telling the truth, Nomoe-san."

Nomoe_Hideaki: smiles "Don't think I don't know fully well how to mislead by speaking nothing but the truth."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Why do you want to destroy Magog when you are cooperating with the forces of the Neverborn yourself?"

@Lob: The Fiend laughed. "What are you talking about? None of the Primordials want the Neverborn to succeed. That would ruin EVERYTHING!" She said with a shake of her head.

Nomoe_Hideaki: smiles coldly. "Well, then there's no reason to worry, is there?" And in a blur of motion he appears behind her, his hand raised to attack.

@Lob: "HOLD ON!" Brazen snapped.

@Lob: "WE CAN'T LET HER KILL AUTOCTHON! WE PROMISED THOSE PEOPLE THAT WE'D HELP THEM!"

~Pro: Pro uncrosses his arms from where he stood against the leg of his warstrider. "I agree. I may belong to Creation, but I cannot allow you to risk the Great Maker in this way."

Bright_Snow: "She is either bluffing or has a way of killing them all anyway Braxen, she is after all a creature of taint and lies."

@Lob: Brazen growled. "You think I don't know that? I used to run with the Infernal Exalted. But she's right, the Yozis hate the Neverborn."

~Pro: "If you kill her, and her device works as she is told it would, Autochthon would become yet another of the Neverborn. His sickness has him partway there already. Do we need to put the whole of the Maker's might behind the forces that wish to kill us all?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: laughs mirthlessly. "Divide and conquer, you're not bad at this, Fiend." He shakes his head. "Don't let her blind you to the truth."

@Lob: "You already know I'm telling the truth..." The Fiend whispered to Nomoe as he appeared behind her.

@Lob: "I saw the damn chain too, Nomoe-San! The thing made me feel sick."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "And I don't care," Nomoe answers the Fiend. "In your hands, just as it would be in mine, the truth is no more than a weapon in such a situation."

@Lob: "So you'll have the blood of an entire world on your hands? Who's the evil one now, Hideaki?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: At Brazen's words Nomoe sneers. "She says her masters don't want that outcome. If that is truly so then they wouldn't have risked it."

@Lob: Brazen shrugged. "It's the Ebon Dragon. He's a dick."

Bright_Snow: "Exactly. You pretty much answered why we should kill her now and allow her no part in anything we do." Snow says.

@Lob: "But wouldn't making us party to genocide also be something he'd do?!" Brazen countered.

@Lob: "If this was any other place, I'd be right there with you, but we can't risk an entire world on the fact that she MIGHT be bluffing!"

@Lob: "You can see into Essence, can't you Hideaki? Then you know it's not a bluff..."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "I have no use for words such as 'good' or 'evil' except to employ in propaganda and demagogy."

Nomoe_Hideaki: */We are in agreement then?/*

@Lob: "Hey, robot-thing! Are you going to allow this?"

Bright_Snow: */She taints everything she comes across even us. Whatever else matters she and all sworn to the Dragon must be dealt with./*

Nomoe_Hideaki: */Just so./*

@Lob: "What about you, Brazen? You turned traitor and wimped out from your glorious destiny becasue you thought that we were all bad...don't you regret your decision now that your new shinier friends are doing the exact same things...." She purred smilingly at the Devil-Tiger.

@Lob: "GODS DAMMIT NOMOE, DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS!!!" He shrieked in conflicted fury and despair.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Bright golden light glares as Nomoe's deadly hands fall on the Fiend.

~Pro: Pro takes a step forward. "NO!" Essence capacitors in his shoulders flash and thunder as a powerful shockwave ripples out from his body.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Flakes of ash gently falling all around briefly flare before the holy light consumes them.

@Lob: Brazen exploded forward. "FUCK!" He shouted in anger and frustration.

@Lob: He rushed towards the Fiend, trying to push Nomoe away from her, all the while the Fiend laughed and laughed and laughed.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Annoyed Nomoe slaps the wavefront aside, his long hair flying wildly in the wind. "Don't get in my way, *Commander*"

@Lob: Brazen was momentarily stopped by the shockwave, but managed to keep his footing, even as he felt slightly disoriented as energy was sapped from him.

Bright_Snow: stands her eyes on the others now, originally trying to stop this madness she has instead chosen to watch and attempt to minimalise the damage

~Prototype: "I don't wish to fight you, Deliberator. But if you will not accept the Breaker-spawn's help, let her go. There will be other, better times to make her answer for what she is and what she has done!"

@Lob: The Fiend shook her head sadly. "It appears that no one here is willing to be rational. Too bad, we could've worked so well together. But don't worry, I'll be seeing you all later...well, you won't though."

@Lob: As the shockwave struck her, her form burst into mud, splattering everywhere around them.

@Lob: She merely sighed as Nomoe tried to strike him again and again and again, finally zipping away, leaving useless pieces of squirming protoplasmic muck behind.

@Lob: When he finished, she again held the chain. "Great, hope you're feeling good about yourself. Now then, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to walk away, and you're going to let me, because the second I see you behind me, I'm activating this little treasure here." She said casually, as black tears began to roll down her face and from her mouth.

@Lob: She began moving backwards, into the darkness.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "If I feared that course of events I would not have struck in the first place."

@Lob: And her face melted into nothing as she did so.

@Lob: Brazen moved to block him. "You can't do this, this is insane, Nomoe-San!!"

~Prototype: "Deliberator, we have a mission to accomplish! This is a distraction!"

@Lob: "We'll get her another time, I promise!"

Nomoe_Hideaki: casually flickers past Brazen, not allowing him to block his way.

Nomoe_Hideaki: */If she does trigger it she won't have anything to protect her anymore. Are you with me? If she hides I won't be able to find her alone .../*

~Prototype: "Is killing one Fiend worth dooming a Titan and the millions who live in his body!?" Pro shouts, his voice echoing through Autochthon's cavernous body.

@Lob: "NOMOE-SAN, FOR THE SAKE OF OUR FRIENDSHIP, PLEASE!!" Brazen called back!

Bright_Snow: */If she does trigger it we may have killed Autochton, I believe we were trying to prevent that. On the otherhand I expect her to try to trigger it some time later. Better to let her shadow us and ambush her when we have thought of a way of dealing with it./*

Bright_Snow: */A little sadness / And it prevents us from having to deal with our easily duped compatriots. /*

Nomoe_Hideaki: A few steps beyond Brazen's giant form Nomoe slows down from his hyperspeed movement and finally stops, looking after the fleeing Fiend with hatred in his eyes and grinding teeth.

@Lob: The Fiend disappeared into the smoke, eventually disappearing into shadow and darkness

@Lob: Brazen, for his part, is relieved. "You did the right thing, Nomoe-San." he said.

Nomoe_Hideaki: */Truth spoken or not, barring suicidal insanity it's still a bluff and we should have called it./ frustration, tightly controlled anger, then the equivalent of a deep breath /But you're right, no matter how unlikely a counter-measure might be a good thing to have./ annoyance /I'd hate for *them* to give us a 'we told you so'./*

Bright_Snow: "Your far to easily duped Brazen." Snow says. "She will discharge the device anyway. On the eve of our victory. It is in her nature. All you've done is delayed our chance to do anything about it."

Nomoe_Hideaki: doesn't turn around. "Good job, *comrades*," the word carries bitter irony. "on not only giving her a clear win but tying a little pink bow around it as well."

@Lob: "At least I'll be able to sleep at night!" Brazen retorted. "The Ebon Dragon doesn't want Autocthon dead anymore then anyone else does. But he's a coward. If you push him too far, he'll do ANYTHING to escape."

@Lob: "Now come on, we've still got a city to destroy, and frankly I need to break things!"

Bright_Snow: "Idiot, she'll detonate it anyway. That is what we have been saying. Better to make sure we can control the blast and eliminate the threat than to let her make you two dance to her tune."

@Lob: "HOW WOULD YOU DO THAT, SNOW? DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT NECROMANCY?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Well, it seems that instead we are to lose sleep over her continued existence and capability to use that thing, whatever it is."

Nomoe_Hideaki: finally turns around at that, fixing Brazen with a sharp look. "I know one thing about Necromancy: The Void Circle is accessible only to the direct servants of the Neverborn. Think about that for a moment."

@Lob: "Then what about Cerise?"

@Lob: "She's part of the Deliberative, isn't she?

Bright_Snow: "DO YOU!" Snow says with a growl and a finger pushed hard into Brazen's exterior. "THOUGHT NOT"

@Lob: "OF COURSE I DON'T, SNOW! THAT'S WHY I THOUGHT WE SHOULDN'T LET HER SET IT OFF!"

~Prototype: "As I recall from my briefings, only the Deathlords and Abyssals can access magics of the Void Circle - with the exception of Deliberator Cerise, of course. But not all Abyssals serve the Neverborn. A few have allied with Creation's cause against the Void. Is it so impossible that one might have joined forces with the Ebon Dragon?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Point two," Nomoe assumes a lecturing tone as if speaking to a very small child. "If what she said was the actual truth rather than merely something she *believed* to be true then Autochthonia is doomed no matter the outcome here."

Bright_Snow: "Yet you let her leave with it, fought for it in fact." She says forcing herself calm. "She will set it off here, one way or the other. Your so worried about that then why in Creation's did you let her leave with it? Prevent us from making sure it did NO HARM. Get that through your think skull. She played you like a harp."

Bright_Snow: "The only way she could have got more out of you were you to have bent over."

Nomoe_Hideaki: sighs. "Divide and conquer. Sow the seeds of discord. I know you mean well, Brazen Sand, but you should realize that against foes such as that Akuma or this Fiend you are as defenseless as a mortal child."

@Lob: "If she sets it off, you know I'll be right there to try to stop it. But we need to get to the fucking city. If there's a choice between her definitely blowing it up now or maybe blowing it up later, I'll take the second."

@Lob: "My conscience is my own, Nomoe-San, it's judged by my actions, not the actions of others. At least I can look at myself in the mirror! I'd suggest you remember that I'm no child!" He said, then turned and started walking towards the city, clearly angry

Bright_Snow: */A child may have better sense / Snow is still furious, she is just containing it better /*

Nomoe_Hideaki: "When there are citadel's to smash and trains to be derailed we let you, the expert, do the work. When it comes to manipulators like these you should let US handle them and stand aside."

@Lob: Brazen pointedly ignored Nomoe and leapt into the air towards Magog

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Sadly not. A child may yet learn," Nomoe says quietly.

Nomoe_Hideaki: He turns to Prototype. "Commander, you realize how we were played, I hope?"

~Prototype: "That may be so. But first, I do not believe it was a bluff. I have to wonder what she stood to gain. If her goal was to cripple the Great Maker, why wait to find us first? If she wished to remove us from the equation, why wait for us to awaken? If her plan was to wait for us to enter Magog, then destroy us along with the city, why reveal her presence at all?" Pro shakes his head. "I believe her offer of aid was genui

~Prototype: was genuine, at least as far as the destruction of Magog."

Bright_Snow: "She is a creature of deceit, lies and spite. Her actions have no real affect unless there is someone there to witness and despair Commander."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "The best plans result in small, incremental benefits no matter what the outcome. The only winning move is to deny the framework of an offered deal entirely."

~Prototype: Pro shrugs. "We will not know for certain, now."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "In any case, the chance has passed," Nomoe agrees. "Let's focus on the matter at hand." */If you see her skulking about, don't let the others know. If we are to strike it will have to be without interference./*

~Prototype: Pro turns, and climbs up into his warstrider.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Magog." Nomoe looks in the direction Brazen Sand has disappeared into. "We will likely rely on you to coordinate our efforts, Commander. We will need to strike at the most vital parts to have any chance or crippling the patropolis, then kill it."

Bright_Snow: *?Agreed/*

@Lob: In a matter of minutes, they found themselves at the gates of a great crystal city...yet one that looked somehow sick

@Lob: The facets in the diamond walls showed off a million insane mirror images of the viewer, all sick and diseased with technology crawling upon them.

@Lob: Along the walls, massive needle-like arms stabbed into the Great Maker's flesh, up and down, digging for...who knows...

@Lob: But like a massive spider it continually dipped in and out, with limbs like filthy hypodermic needles.

@Lob: Up above, the entire sky was aglow with insanely complex algorithms and calculations formed from what could be it's anima?

@Lob: All made in Old Realm

@Lob: The sound of relentless industry pours forth, and in front of the diamond wall is Brazen, gathering his strength to bash it down, his many teeth revealed in a feral snarl.

Nomoe_Hideaki: His arms crossed Nomoe watches the spectacle with a stony expression. Even he can't help being impressed, perhaps even intimidated - though only Bright Snow would be able tell thanks to the bond - but never daunted. "I vote we let Brazen Sand be the distraction," he proposes reasonably. "While we strike unseen, fast and deep."

Bright_Snow: "That seems a little harsh."

~Prototype: Pro pauses for a moment to more deeply integrate his essence with his craft befor beginning a flyover of the city, glancing up at the glowing algorithms overhead.

@Lob: The equations entered his mind, attacking and attempting to lay bare his true self and then show it the meaninglessness of existence, other then to SERVE THE VOID.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "He volunteered," Nomoe points out. "In actions, if not in words. And we know that he is as hard to hurt as any of us, if not even more so. Nothing we have seen has ever come close to seriously hurting him."

Nomoe_Hideaki: */Though I admit, there may be a little spite involved in my reasoning as well./ he confesses* "What do you suggest?"

Bright_Snow: "Well he will try a frontal assault whatever, for once let us accompany him." */It may make him more inclined to trust us raqther than the fiend next time. Certainly it may salve some wounds./ Anger is still present but she is repressing it/*

~Prototype: Pro steels his mind with the doctrines of the Great Maker and the Unconquered Sun, using their inarguable rightness to ward off the insidious compulsion. "Do not look at the formulae overhead! The equation is anti-life, and seeks to make a slave of any who views it."

Nomoe_Hideaki: While he is speaking with Bright Snow mere light effects in the sky understandably have a hard time catching Nomoe's attention.

Bright_Snow: Snow herself flicks the corrupt lettering a glance and not bothering to read it, turns her attention to the mattter at hand, the unholy symbols of no interest to her.

@Lob: Finally, Brazen prepared himself and sent a massive fist careening into the wall, smashing it into shards that cut into his magma-textured flesh

@Lob: But he utterly ignored the pain, too intent upon channelling his frustration and anger to care abotu such minor wounds.

@Lob: With a cry loud enough to carry throughout the city, he channeled his anima into his arms, pumping raw might into his fists and then with an explosion of raw multicoloured essence, the section of the wall exploded into tiny shards as his anima lit up along with him

Nomoe_Hideaki: inclines his head slightly to Bright Snow. */I doubt it, but it is worth a try./ frustration* "A frontal assault is is."

@Lob: Various alarms went off

Bright_Snow: "We follow Brazen, using him as a ram. Then we fan out when we are deeper within and look for these control crystals you have mentioned." Snow manages as Brazen prepares. "Acceprable?"

@Lob: and Brazen charged into the city, smashing the rest of his body through the hole he'd made.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Let's go," Nomoe agrees, the air around him blurring and shimmering with the power of the Charms he invokes.

@Lob: INTRUDER INTRUDER INTRUDER INTRUDER INTRUDER INTRUDER INTRUDER was the call in a spidery voice echoed from floating crystals stuffed into electrical cages above the streets where the slaves of the Gremlin City toiled

@Lob: "OH YEAH!" Brazen roared

Bright_Snow: Snow's form shimmers, though it does not grow and the kalediscopic flash of her anima forms around her as she follows Brazen's charging form inward.

Nomoe_Hideaki: The Eclipse gives the Infernal a moment or two to continue deeper into the city, then follows after him with his trademark speed.

~Prototype: Pro turns to fly cover for his allies on the ground, eyes searching for spots that might indicate vulnerabilities to exploit or objectives to be taken.

@Lob: They find themselves in an antiseptic house of horrors, a non-euclidean nightmares of perfectly clean starmetal corridors and endless shadows and conveyer belts where starved soulless-eyed people walk or shamble in designated lines to work...or perhaps death?

@Lob: Certainly screams can be heard behind more then one vault door that line the thorough-fares of Magog.

@Lob: Brazen stopped to stare at the scene around him, not sure where to start.

Bright_Snow: darts round him her eyes scanning for anything resembling control crystals, her eyesight showing her every relay, every spark and every flaw in this damned patropolis.

@Lob: A spider-like construct about half Brazen's size clambered over to him while he stood distracted, revealing mouthparts of blood-caked diamond blade and plasma-hot torches.

@Lob: Brazen merely ripped it's head off without a second thought and stomped it into scrap

Nomoe_Hideaki: glides through the corridors, avoiding obstructings living, construct, and in between, moving with all alacrity toward the center of the city

@Lob: A person stopped to stare at them and was immediately set upon by a swarm of razor'd insectile constructs that arose from grates within the street to attack him.

@Lob: CONTINUE ROUTE CONTINUE ROUTE CONTINUE ROUTE

@Lob: A wall suddenly rose up in Nomoe's path, blocking him

@Lob: Arcs of electricity rushed through it as the Solar neared the wall at supersonic speeds

~Prototype: As he wings over the city, Pro peers down, using his knowledge of other cities to search out key objectives for destruction.

~Prototype: Spotting a key location, Pro tags it with a target marker and banks around to fly back over the others and lead them toward it.

@Lob: Suddenly, a massive shockwave of invisible force smashed against the street, pulping passers-by and sending Brazen stumbling back a few meters. The city was not worried about the casualties, who were quickly gathered up by the same swarm-constructs and taken down into the core for recycling and reconstitution.

~Prototype: "I've spotted a structure that looks important!" Pro radios. "I'll lead you to it."

Nomoe_Hideaki: Classifying the obstacle as 'annoying' Nomoe surrounds himself with cracking essence and then simply runs *through* it.

Bright_Snow: Spotting the eye, Snow propells herself on various structures bouncing off walls and other more dangerous appartus at high speed and strikes at the eye severing it from the crane with one fell blow

@Lob: As Nomoe struck the wall, electricity at a voltage high enough to electrocute an Air Elemental coursed through his body

Nomoe_Hideaki: Letting the lightning crawl over his skin Nomoe just laughs, then with an explosive motion shatters it into a cascade of sparks crawling all over the walls.

@Lob: The wall exploded under the force of Nomoe's golden-tinged fist

@Lob: "Tell me where it is, Prototype!" Brazen called back

@Lob: THE RESEARCH MUST BE DEFENDED! ELECTRICAL GRID DEFENSE BREACHED.

Nomoe_Hideaki: The whole thing having delayed him for no more than half a second or so Nomoe rushes onward, deeper and deeper toward the likely center. */Have you found any likely targets so far?/*

@Lob: A grid of scanning lasers arced through the corridor Nomoe ran through

@Lob: SCANNING TARGET...SCANNING TARGET...TARGET ANALYSIS COMPLETE, PAIN THRESHOLD...SUPERNAL...RESEARCH APPLICATIONS...LIMITLESS

~Prototype: "I'll lead you to it!" Pro responds, turning back toward the structure.

@Lob: Snow's spear gouged deep into the wiring connecting the charm to the Patropoli, and a sound like a keening wail rang through the crane area

@Lob: A fleet of repair drones started crawling up the crane's shaft, equal parts biological and mechanical

~Prototype: As he realigns toward the maybe-vats complex, Pro aims his cannon at the building's wall and squeezes the trigger, firing a stuttering blast of essence vortices.

@Lob: With agonized human faces faces looking out from the top of it's shell

@Lob: Brazen followed the Warstrider pilot

@Lob: They began to spit blood into the crane, which then congealed into muscle tissue, integrating back into the damaged structure

@Lob: The repair drones, I mean

Nomoe_Hideaki: Seeking elevation for better sight and more freedom of movement Nomoe races along with supernal speed. Analyzing the essence flows all around him and remembering Ruby and the Alchemically-enhanced Abyssals he tries to identify Charms and other vital parts, even as he follows the flows toward the center.

@Lob: The blast from Pro's cannon hits an energy shield that seems to hold against it for a few agonizing minutes

@Lob: ...but then collapses into static

@Lob: Brazen charged into the building

@Lob: Nomoe travelled this way and that but ended up being waylaid by the labyrinthine city, configured as it was to a completely inhuman aesthetic.

@Lob: He stopped near a section helpfully labelled in Old Realm: Subject Acquisitions

@Lob: "SO WHAT'S THIS PLACE SUPPOSED TO BE?" Brazen shouted to Prototype outside the building before the shields went back online

~Prototype: "It looks sort of like a vats complex for building Alchemicals!"

Bright_Snow: Leaping past one last time, Snow releases a flurry of blows before following the others.

@Lob: "Maybe it's here where those Abyssal Alchemical things are coming from!" Brazen suggested.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Annoyed at the way Autochthonian design confuses his Creation-trained sensibilities Nomoe follows the only obvious path marked by essence trails.

@Lob: The door opened for him before Nomoe even touched it, as he walked through what could only be described as a meat-locker

@Lob: with hanging naked humans in suspended animation.

@Lob: "SUBJECT: EXALTED HUMAN...ESSENCE FIVE...STAND UPON THE CONVEYER FOR PROCESSING"

@Lob: A voice ordered him through a starmetal face on the low-hanging ceiling

@Lob: Snow's next attack barely scratched the metal casing of the charm, but she leapt away anyway to possibly rejoin the others as the repair drones continued to rebuild the charm to full functionality, while the human heads on their shells screamed.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Conveyer ... to where?" Nomoe inquires off-handedly, but reasoning that this thing is likely to transport him somewhere more interesting (and thus vulnerable) he does as the voice instructs.

~Prototype: "I suspect you may be right What can you see with your essence sight?"

~Prototype: Pro begins moving around the building to inspect it from all sides.

@Lob: A smooth plastic conveyer started moving underneath his feet. "YOUR EXALTATION IS LIKE THOSE GIVEN BY THE OBLIVION-WORSHIPPERS, YET NOT."

@Lob: "IT WILL BE REMOVED. YOUR COMPLIANCE IS APPRECIATED."

@Lob: Brazen touched it and then winced backwards as a bolt of electricity singed his talons. UNAUTHORIZED USER/SUBJECT DETECTED

@Lob: "Uhhh...Hell if I know, it's Autocthonian, but sick. You'd know better then I." He said as he shook the feeling back into his hand.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "To whom am I speaking?" Nomoe continues to inquire. "How do you plan to accomplish that? The enhanced Abyssals I've met still had their Void-tainted Exaltations ..."

@Lob: "THEY ARE UNABLE TO OPTIMALLY FUNCTION WITHIN CREATION, AND CREATION MUST BE DESTROYED IF THE ENGINE OF EXTINCTION IS TO KNOW CESSATION."

Nomoe_Hideaki: */I ... might be a little lost down here. Annoying Autochthonian architecture. Now walking into an obvious trap, hoping to find something important to destroy./ annoyance*

Nomoe_Hideaki: "What is the Engine of Extinction?"

@Lob: The voice continued as it took Nomoe past a multitude of well-scrubbed rooms covered in clear plexiglass, the only sign of their function was the rusty drain at the centre of each cell.

@Lob: "THE GREAT MAKER"

@Lob: One cell was occupied by a naked woman who repeatedly rapped her forehead against the clear walls, fully visible to Nomoe.

@Lob: She had clearly been at it for a long time, judging by the large spreading blotch of fresh blood on it.

~Prototype: "Let me try," Pro grins and fires up his cannon again, holding the barrel just inches from the electrified surface of the building.

Nomoe_Hideaki: continues to examine his surroundings with his essence sight, hoping to find vital structures or Charms. "How do you apply Alchemical Charms to a subject already Exalted? How does that work?"

@Lob: A red light went on and the conveyer stopped

@Lob: "SCANNING ATTEMPT BLOCKED"

Bright_Snow: */ Might as well learn what you can. It would be nice to know how these two groups made contact. So we can stop it happening again / Yell if you need further help/*

@Lob: "FOR THE PURPOSE OF SECURITY, YOU WILL CEASE THAT ACTION OR DISCIPLINARY ACTION WILL FOLLOW."

Bright_Snow: bounces of a shard of rubble from one of Prototypes passes and follows the strider in great leaps from object to object.

@Lob: A hole is blown into the complex, and a massive Vat holds a Colossus

@Lob: Brazen snorted, a bit impressed. "So why're they putting a Warstrider in one of the Vats?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Alright, alright ..." Nomoe lets the hearthstones attunement to his crown chakra lapse.

~Prototype: Pro hisses. "This building houses the city's old and spare bodies. That's not a warstrider, it's a Colossus. An intermediate stage of Alchemical development, between the humaniform state I'm in, and the city we have around us."

Nomoe_Hideaki: */I will. In that event follow the sound of the explosions./*

@Lob: The tour continued..."THIS FACILITY IS DEDICATED TO THE CESSESSATION OF ALL EXISTENCE, AND THUS THE UNDERSTANDING OF HUMANITY, BOTH IN PRE AND POST-VITAL STATES." It said

@Lob: "We'd better destroy it then, naturally." Brazen said

Nomoe_Hideaki: "How are you in contact with Creation's worshippers of Oblivion?"

@Lob: He walked over and readied a fist...and then was grabbed from the side by another

@Lob: DRONE BODY DEPLOYED

Nomoe_Hideaki: "There must be an active Razor Gate, correct?"

@Lob: "Oh shi-" Brazen said before he came flying out of the building slid through a multitude of walls, leaving a collapsing pile of sharp and twitching muscle tissue and rubble atop the Infernal

@Lob: "INTERLOPER CHAMPION DETECTED." Came the voice from the Vats Complex

@Lob: Then a pulsing humming noise rattled through Pro's teeth as it revealed itself

@Lob: "A GATE HAS OPENED THROUGH A SHINMAIC GLITCH INTO THE UNDERWORLD OF THE GREAT MAKER'S DEAD FELLOWS, A REFLECTION OF THE REALITY OF THE ENGINE OF EXTINCTION."

@Lob: It continued

@Lob: Then stopped at a shower. "REMOVE YOUR CLOTHES IN ACCORDANCE WITH HYGIENIC PROTOCOLS"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "So it was opened from the other side, not initiated from Autochthonia?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: frowns, then transforms his clothes into opaque sheets of pure light. Aesthetically pleasing, preserving dignity, and yet technically following the instruction.

@Lob: "NEGATIVE. I OPENED IT."

@Lob: It said with a hint of pride through it's voice of breaking glass and spider-legs walking through dusty bones

~Prototype: Prototype drops a target marker on the colossus drone and fires his thrusters, leaping backwards into the sky , gaining room to maneuver.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "So I *am* speaking to Magog? Why did you do it? Was an alliance with the First and Forsaken Lion your intention or merely an opportunity that arose?"

@Lob: The Colossus followed it's movements, arcing into the "sky above"